Thirty years of Dorothy
Dorothy in numbers
Dorothy has risen from 18 girls in 1996 to 253 in 2025, though it is below its peak of 289 in 2021. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2017 and 2020, from 199 to 288. On average it was given to 21 girls a year in the late 1990s, 27 in the 2000s, 140 in the 2010s and 267 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year+1%251 to 253
- 5 years-12%288 to 253
- 10 years+83%138 to 253
- 20 years+716%31 to 253
- Since 1996×1418 to 253
- Total, 1996 to 20253,357girls
† All changes and totals are Baby Data calculations from ONS counts. A total adds only the published years.
Across the three nations, 2025
Each from its own statistics office, never added togetherRank 199 · ONS · 251 in 2024
Rank 539 · NRS
Rank 231 · NISRA
England and Wales (ONS) count births in the calendar year; Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland (NISRA) count births registered in the year. Each comes from its own statistics office and they are never added together.
Year by year, 1996 to 2025 Show all 30 yearsHide the table
| Year | Rank | Babies | Change† | 1 in X† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | =199 | 253 | +1% | 1 in 1,125 |
| 2024 | =193 | 251 | +0% | 1 in 1,154 |
| 2023 | 199 | 250 | -8% | 1 in 1,152 |
| 2022 | 187 | 272 | -6% | 1 in 1,084 |
| 2021 | 177 | 289 | +0% | 1 in 1,054 |
| 2020 | 175 | 288 | +9% | 1 in 1,040 |
| 2019 | 187 | 265 | +29% | 1 in 1,175 |
| 2018 | =246 | 206 | +4% | 1 in 1,551 |
| 2017 | =250 | 199 | +10% | 1 in 1,663 |
| 2016 | =274 | 181 | +31% | 1 in 1,874 |
| 2015 | =343 | 138 | +10% | 1 in 2,462 |
| 2014 | =359 | 126 | +18% | 1 in 2,686 |
| 2013 * | =397 | 107 | +84% | 1 in 3,191 |
| 2012 | =709 | 58 | -13% | 1 in 6,126 |
| 2011 | =603 | 67 | +26% | 1 in 5,268 |
| 2010 | =695 | 53 | +2% | 1 in 6,645 |
| 2009 | =701 | 52 | +37% | 1 in 6,617 |
| 2008 | =859 | 38 | +15% | 1 in 9,098 |
| 2007 | =919 | 33 | +38% | 1 in 10,167 |
| 2006 | =1,119 | 24 | -23% | 1 in 13,632 |
| 2005 | =890 | 31 | +41% | 1 in 10,168 |
| 2004 | =1,072 | 22 | +38% | 1 in 14,153 |
| 2003 | =1,325 | 16 | -16% | 1 in 18,939 |
| 2002 | =1,104 | 19 | +19% | 1 in 15,266 |
| 2001 | =1,238 | 16 | -24% | 1 in 18,124 |
| 2000 | =993 | 21 | +40% | 1 in 14,038 |
| 1999 | =1,261 | 15 | -40% | 1 in 20,174 |
| 1998 | =869 | 25 | +4% | n/a |
| 1997 | =897 | 24 | +33% | 1 in 13,063 |
| 1996 | =1,072 | 18 | 1 in 17,555 |
* ONS’s girls’ 2013 file repeats the May total as April, so the 2013 births total is about 1,360 too high and 1 in X for 2013 is slightly too high. 1 in X is not shown for girls in 1998: one monthly total is missing from the ONS girls’ 1998 file. Rank follows ONS: names with the same count share a rank (shown with =). “Under 3” means the name was given to fewer than 3 babies that year, so ONS did not publish it.
Compare Dorothy
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Dorothy is in the free dataset (CSV and JSON), with the method and how to cite it.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; National Records of Scotland; NISRA. Exact spellings are counted separately and names given to fewer than 3 babies are not published. Figures marked † are Baby Data calculations. How we calculate